Ohio State sophomore linebacker K’Vaughan Pope (36) carries the ball down field in the second half of the game against Maryland on Nov. 9. Ohio State won 73-14. Credit: Cori Wade | Lantern File Photo
During the second quarter of No. 10 Ohio State’s 59-7 victory over Akron, senior linebacker K’Vaughan Pope appeared to run onto the field to give fellow senior linebacker Teradja Mitchell a breather.
Mitchell waved his apparent substitution back to the sidelines.
Pope then ripped his jersey off and threw his gloves in anger, making a run for the Buckeyes’ locker room before Ohio State director of player development C.J. Barnett escorted him back to the sidelines, as first reported by Lettermen Row.
Pope did not stay long as he took to Twitter to vent his frustrations while Ohio State continued play against the Zips.
The Dinwiddie, Virginia, native tweeted at 9:16 p.m. “good luck to my teammates” and “f – – – ohio state” at 9:18 p.m. The latter tweet has since been deleted.
Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day said he wanted to get all the details of the situation before making a decision on Pope’s future with the team.
Redshirt sophomore linebacker Steele Chambers said he “didn’t really know what happened,” and graduate defensive tackle Haskell Garrett said, “It is what it is.”
Pope played in each of the first three games of 2021, recording three tackles and a pass defended. In his four-year Ohio State career, Pope tallied just 19 tackles in 33 games, serving primarily as a backup in the linebacker rotation.
The Buckeyes lost senior linebacker Dallas Gant earlier in the week when he announced Wednesday he was entering the transfer portal.
“I think when you make a commitment to a team at the beginning of the year, you make a commitment to Ohio State, the Buckeyes. That’s what you do,” Day said. “One of the hard things is that you have to play certain guys and you have to make some decisions on who is playing in those games. You really count on the guys to still be great teammates if they’re not getting on the field.”
